‘Tolls Are a Local Decision,’ Foxx Says

A television interview earlier this week by US Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx points toward a possible breakthrough in the U.S. government’s approach to transportation financing.

“Tolls are a local decision,” Foxx told WHAS11 in Louisville, Kentucky, “a decision made by the state and local communities. We're seeing more aggressive use of tolls across the country, particularly as the uncertainty in Washington continues to make it difficult for communities to plan based on conventional funding from the federal government.”

Foxx’s remarks came as Kentucky legislators debated the best way to fund a $3 billion overhaul of the Brent Spence Bridge between Kentucky and Ohio. Built in 1963 to carry 80,000 cars and 3,000 trucks per day, the bridge now handles daily traffic of 160,000 vehicles, including 30,000 trucks.

When state legislators voted to ban tolls on the new bridge, Gov. Steve Beshear vetoed the measure. “It is imprudent to eliminate any potential means of financing construction of such a vital piece of infrastructure,” he explained.

The common thread between Foxx’s and Beshear’s statements should be encouraging to anyone who sees tolling as an important tool in the transportation funding toolbox.

Neither of them is suggesting that tolls are the right way to pay for every highway project. But they’re both calling for greater flexibility, to allow state and local governments to choose the financing mechanisms that best suit their communities’ needs.

With the White House about to present its four-year, $302-billion transportation plan to Congress, the flexibility to toll existing Interstate highways could help legislators find the funds to make the vision a reality.